Celtics won't name a team captain for third straight season

Brad Stevens has not named a team captain for his past three seasons in Boston and that trend will continue during the 2017-18 campaign.

The head coach said last night at the Celtics season ticket holder fanfest at the TD Garden that he will not name specific captains this year, as he prefers a number of players step up to lead a revamped roster.

"We won't name a captain," Stevens said Sunday night. "We'll have leaders. They'll all come to the front. We all want all 15 guys to take ownership in being authentic leaders. As I've said before, I think the biggest thing is that sometimes when you name a captain or name a few captains, you can disempower others as much as you empower captains."

Prior to Stevens arrival in Boston, Celtics tradition has been that the Celtics had a captain for each season, dating all the way back to the 1950 with Bob Cousy. Rajon Rondo was named a captain during the 2013-14 season upon returning from his ACL tear but Stevens has declined to name a new one since the point guard was traded in December 2014.

With just four returning players (Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier) on the 2017-18 roster, it makes sense for Stevens to let the group mesh together instead of naming one individual to take the lead with so many new faces.

"I think the most important thing is that we all embrace what we do best and add to the team," Stevens said. "And we all have a voice in that. I want the guys that are 20 years old to have ownership, to be able to put their signature on this thing, just as much as some of the older guys. Clearly the older guys are who we'll lean on from an experience standpoint, but it's important that everybody feels ownership in this."

With so much trade turnover in recent years, it's easy to see why Stevens declined to need captains. However, as a young core of Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving plant their roots in Boston for (likely) years to come, it will be interesting to see if Stevens turns back to the captain tradition in the years to come.

Here is a list of all 15 Celtics captains in team history.

Bob Cousy 1950-63
Bill Russell 1963-69
John Havlicek 1969-78
Dave Cowens 1978-80
Larry Bird 1980-92
Reggie Lewis 1992-93
Robert Parish 1993-94
Dee Brown & Dominique Wilkins 1994-95
Dee Brown 1995-96
Rick Fox 1996-97
Dee Brown, Pervis Ellison & Antoine Walker 1997-98
Antoine Walker 1998-99
Antoine Walker & Dana Barros 1999-00
Antoine Walker & Paul Pierce 2000-03
Paul Pierce 2003-13
Rajon Rondo 2014